# NBC College Football Game of the Week

The NBC College Football Game of the Week refers to nationally televised broadcasts of Saturday afternoon college football games in the 1950s and 1960s that were produced by NBC Sports, the sports division of the NBC television network in the United States. Bowl games were always exempt from the NCAA's television regulations, and the games' organizers were free to sign rights deals with any network. In NBC's case, the 1952 Rose Bowl at the end of that particular season was the first national telecast of a college bowl game.

## Background

NBC first televised college football on September 30, 1939. NBC broadcast the game between Waynesburg and Fordham on station W2XBS (which would eventually become NBC's flagship station, WNBC) with one camera and Bill Stern was the sole announcer. Estimates are that the broadcast reached approximately 1,000 television sets. Twelve years later, the first live regular season college football game to be broadcast coast-to-coast aired on NBC. The game in question, was Duke at the Pittsburgh on September 29, 1951.
Pretty soon on June 6, 1952, NBC Head of Sport Tom Gallery led negotiations towards a one-year football contract (for $1,144,000) with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The contract incidentally came about after the 1951 NCAA convention voted 161-7 to outlaw televised games except for those licensed by the NCAA staff. The deal allowed NBC to select one game a week to broadcast on Saturday afternoons, with the assurance that no other NCAA college football broadcast would appear on a competitive network. In the first college football game to be broadcast under this new NCAA television contract, on September 20, Kansas defeated TCU 13–0.
By 1953, the NCAA allowed NBC to add what it called "panorama" coverage of multiple regional broadcasts for certain weeks – shifting national viewers to the most interesting game during its telecast. After NBC lost its college football contract following the 1953 season, they carried Canadian football in 1954. NBC regained college football rights in 1955 and aired games through the 1959 season. NBC regained the NCAA contract for the 1964 and 1965 seasons.
Even after losing the rights to regular season college football in both 1959 and 1965, NBC continued to carry postseason football. NBC carried the Blue–Gray Football Classic, an all-star game, on Christmas Day, until dropping the game in 1963 as a protest of the game's policy of segregation. It consistently served as the Rose Bowl's television home until 1988 and added the Sugar Bowl from 1958 to 1969 (which replaced the network's coverage of the Cotton Bowl Classic).

## Commentators
### Play-by-play

* Mel Allen (1952–58)
* Lee Giroux (1956)
* Chick Hearn (1957–58, 1965)
* Lindsey Nelson (1953, 1955–59, 1964–65)
* Jim Simpson (1957)

### Color commentary

* Frankie Albert (1965; with Chick Hearn)
* Terry Brennan (1964–65; with Lindsey Nelson)
* Leo Durocher (1956; with Lee Giroux on west coast regional games)
* Bill Flemming (1957–58; with Mel Allen)
* Lee Giroux (1957–58; with Chick Hearn)
* Curt Gowdy (1958; with Mel Allen)
* Red Grange (1955–59; with Lindsey Nelson)
* Charley Harville (1957; with Jim Simpson on southeast games)
* Bill Henry (1952)
* Bill Munday (1953; with Lindsey Nelson)
* Lindsey Nelson (1953; with Mel Allen)
* Bill Voights (1956; with Mel Allen on midwest regional games)
* Bud Wilkinson (1964–65; with Lindsey Nelson)

## Schedules

All rankings are from that week's AP Poll

### 1952

Mel Allen and Bill Henry served as the primary broadcast crew.
| Date | Teams | Time (ET) |
| September 20 | #9 TCU at #17 Kansas | 3:45 p.m. |
| September 27 | #12 Princeton at Columbia | 1:25 p.m. |
| October 4 | Michigan at Stanford | 4:40 p.m. |
| October 11 | Texas A&M at #2 Michigan State | 1:45 p.m. |
| October 18 | Cornell at Yale | 1:45 p.m. |
| October 25 | Purdue at Illinois | 2:15 p.m. |
| November 1 | Ohio State at Northwestern | 2:15 p.m. |
| November 8 | #4 Oklahoma at #10 Notre Dame | 2:15 p.m. |
| November 15 | #12 Alabama at #2 Georgia Tech | 2:15 p.m. |
| November 22 | #4 UCLA at #3 USC | 4:45 p.m. |
| November 29 | Army vs. Navy at Philadelphia, PA | 1:00 p.m. |

### 1953

Mel Allen and Lindsey Nelson served as the primary broadcast crew.
| Date | Teams | Time (ET) |
| September 19 | Oregon at Nebraska | 3:45 p.m. |
| September 26 | Dartmouth vs. Holy Cross at Lynn, MA | 1:45 p.m. |
| October 3 | #6 Ohio State at California | 4:45 p.m. |
| October 10 | #16 Oklahoma vs. #15 Texas as Dallas, TX | 2:30 p.m. |
| October 17 | Tennessee at Alabama | 2:45 p.m. |
| October 24 | Cornell at Princeton Arkansas vs. Ole Miss at Memphis, TN Syracuse at #7 Illinois Indiana at Iowa | 2:45 p.m. |
| October 31 | Pittsburgh at #14 Minnesota | 2:45 p.m. |
| November 7 | Georgia at Florida Wisconsin at Northwestern Kansas at Kansas State | 2:45 p.m. |
| November 14 | Michigan at #4 Michigan State | 1:15 p.m. |
| November 21 | #5 UCLA at #9 USC | 4:15 p.m. |
| November 26 | BYU at Utah | 2:45 p.m. |
| November 28 | #18 Army vs. Navy at Philadelphia, PA | 1:15 p.m. |
| December 5 | SMU at #2 Notre Dame | 2:00 p.m. |

### 1955

Lindsey Nelson and Red Grange served as the primary broadcast crew.
| Date | Teams | Time (ET) |
| September 17 | #9 Miami (FL) at #10 Georgia Tech | 3:15 p.m. |
| September 24 | #7 Pittsburgh at Syracuse | 1:15 p.m. |
| October 1 | #8 Ohio State at Stanford | 4:45 p.m. |
| October 8 | Villanova at Boston College | 1:45 p.m. |
| October 15 | #4 Notre Dame at #13 Michigan State | 2:45 p.m. |
| October 22 | Princeton at Cornell #14 Colorado at #3 Oklahoma | 1:45 p.m. |
| October 29 | Iowa at #3 Michigan | 2:15 p.m. |
| November 5 | #6 Notre Dame at Penn | 1:15 p.m. |
| November 12 | #13 Navy at Columbia | 1:15 p.m. |
| November 19 | #5 UCLA at USC | 4:15 p.m. |
| November 24 | Texas at #8 Texas A&M | 2:00 p.m. |
| November 26 | Army vs. #11 Navy at Philadelphia, PA | 1:15 p.m. |
| December 3 | North Carolina at Duke | 1:45 p.m. |

### 1956

Lindsey Nelson and Red Grange served as the primary broadcast crew.
| Date | Teams | Time (ET) |
| September 22 | #4 Georgia Tech at Kentucky | 3:00 p.m. |
| September 29 | Cornell at Colgate UCLA at #13 Michigan Iowa at Indiana | 1:45 p.m. |
| October 6 | Arkansas at #8 TCU | 4:00 p.m. |
| October 13 | Holy Cross at Penn State #5 Ohio State at Illinois California at Oregon State | 1:45 p.m. |
| October 20 | Army at #13 Syracuse #2 Michigan State at Notre Dame Washington at #9 USC | 1:45 p.m. |
| October 27 | #2 Oklahoma at Notre Dame | 2:45 p.m. |
| November 3 | Notre Dame vs. Navy at Baltimore, MD Illinois at Purdue Oregon at California | 1:45 p.m. |
| November 10 | #15 Iowa at #6 Minnesota | 2:15 p.m. |
| November 17 | #20 Princeton at Yale #3 Michigan State at #10 Michigan Washington at Stanford | 1:45 p.m. |
| November 22 | Cornell at Penn | 1:45 p.m. |
| November 24 | USC at UCLA | 4:15 p.m. |
| December 1 | Army vs. #13 Navy at Philadelphia, PA | 1:15 p.m. |
| December 8 | #13 Pittsburgh at #6 Miami (FL) | 2:15 p.m. |

### 1957

Lindsey Nelson and Red Grange served as the primary broadcast crew. On October 12 and 26 and November 9, 23 and 28, NBC showed regional games with Mel Allen/Bill Flemming (midwest), Jim Simpson/Charley Harville (southeast), and Chick Hearn/Lee Giroux (west).
| Date | Teams | Time (ET) |
| September 21 | Maryland vs. #2 Texas A&M at Dallas, TX | 4:45 p.m. |
| September 28 | Northwestern at #16 Stanford | 4:45 p.m. |
| October 5 | #2 Michigan State at California | 5:15 p.m. |
| October 12 | #12 Notre Dame vs. #10 Army at Philadelphia, PA Wake Forest at Maryland Illinois at Ohio State Iowa State at Kansas Washington at UCLA | 1:45 p.m. |
| October 19 | #4 Minnesota at Illinois | 2:15 p.m. |
| October 26 | Penn State at Syracuse #4 Duke at #11 NC State #14 Minnesota at #20 Michigan Washington State at USC | 1:15 p.m. |
| November 2 | #3 Iowa at #12 Michigan | 1:15 p.m. |
| November 9 | #16 Duke vs. #7 Navy at Baltimore, MD North Carolina at South Carolina | 1:45 p.m. |
| November 16 | Notre Dame at #2 Oklahoma | 2:45 p.m. |
| November 23 | Harvard at Yale North Carolina at #11 Duke #9 Notre Dame at #8 Iowa Missouri at Kansas | 1:15 p.m. |
| November 28 | Colgate at Brown #4 Texas A&M at Texas Wyoming at Denver | 1:15 p.m. |
| November 30 | #10 Army vs. #8 Navy at Philadelphia, PA | 1:15 p.m. |
| December 7 | Pittsburgh at Miami (FL) | 3:45 p.m. |

### 1958

| Date | Teams | Time (ET) |
| September 20 | Vanderbilt at Missouri Oklahoma State at Denver | 4:45 p.m. |
| September 27 | Tennessee at #3 Auburn | 4:45 p.m. |
| October 4 | Washington State at California | 4:45 p.m. |
| October 11 | #5 Ohio State at Illinois | 2:15 p.m. |
| October 18 | Penn State at Boston University #13 Iowa at #4 Wisconsin UCLA at Washington | 1:15 p.m. |
| October 25 | #1 Army at Pittsburgh #11 Notre Dame at #15 Purdue Washington State at USC | 1:15 p.m. |
| November 1 | Michigan State at #8 Wisconsin | 1:15 p.m. |
| November 8 | #14 Notre Dame at Pittsburgh Michigan at Illinois Stanford at Oregon | 1:15 p.m. |
| November 15 | Princeton at Yale #20 Northwestern at #8 Purdue Oregon State at Stanford | 1:15 p.m. |
| November 22 | #15 Notre Dame at #6 Iowa | 2:15 p.m. |
| November 27 | Texas A&M at Texas | 2:45 p.m. |
| November 29 | #5 Army vs. Navy at Philadelphia, PA | 1:15 p.m. |
| December 6 | Holy Cross at Boston College | 1:15 p.m. |

### 1959

| Date | Teams | Time (ET) |
| September 19 | Rice at #1 LSU | 4:45 p.m. |
| September 26 | #2 Oklahoma at #10 Northwestern | 3:15 p.m. |
| October 3 | California at #10 Texas | 5:15 p.m. |
| October 10 | Penn at Princeton #10 Iowa at Michigan State | 1:45 p.m. |
| October 17 | Notre Dame at Michigan State | 2:15 p.m. |
| October 24 | #15 Iowa at #14 Purdue | 3:15 p.m. |
| October 31 | Air Force vs. Army at Bronx, NY Indiana at #2 Northwestern | 1:45 p.m. |
| November 7 (Doubleheader) | Pittsburgh at Boston College #18 Air Force at Missouri | 1:15 p.m. 4:00 p.m. |
| November 14 | Pittsburgh at Notre Dame #7 Wisconsin at Illinois | 1:15 p.m. |
| November 21 | #9 Wisconsin at Minnesota | 2:15 p.m. |
| November 26 | North Carolina at Duke | 1:45 p.m. |
| November 28 | Army vs. Navy at Philadelphia, PA | 1:15 p.m. |
| December 5 | #1 Syracuse at #17 UCLA | 3:45 p.m. |

### 1964

| Date | Teams |
| September 12 | UCLA at Pittsburgh |
| September 19 | #10 Navy at Penn State SMU at Florida Kansas State at Wisconsin Stanford at Washington State |
| September 26 | Nebraska at Minnesota |
| October 3 | Syracuse at Holy Cross #10 Washington at Iowa TCU at Arkansas Colorado State at Air Force |
| October 10 | Oklahoma at #1 Texas |
| October 17 | USC at #2 Ohio State |
| October 24 | Dartmouth at Harvard Minnesota at Michigan Tennessee at #7 LSU Iowa State at Missouri |
| October 31 | Pittsburgh at Syracuse NC State at South Carolina Rice at Texas Tech Air Force at Arizona |
| November 7 | Illinois at Michigan |
| November 14 | Michigan State at #1 Notre Dame |
| November 21 | Cornell at Princeton Duke at North Carolina Michigan State at Illinois USC at UCLA |
| November 26 | Auburn at #2 Alabama |
| November 28 | Army at Navy |
| December 5 | Ole Miss at Mississippi State |

### 1965

| Date | Teams |
| September 11 | Tulsa at Houston |
| September 18 | #5 Alabama at Georgia Kansas State at Indiana Arizona at Utah #3 Notre Dame at California |
| September 25 | Iowa at Oregon State |
| October 2 | Ohio State at Washington |
| October 9 | Pittsburgh at Duke |
| October 16 | #1 Texas at #3 Arkansas |
| October 23 | #4 USC at #7 Notre Dame |
| October 30 | Duke at Georgia Tech Illinois at #6 Purdue #7 Florida at Auburn Idaho at Oregon |
| November 6 | Air Force at Army in Chicago #5 Alabama at LSU Baylor at Texas |
| November 13 | Cornell at Dartmouth Minnesota at Purdue Ole Miss at #8 Tennessee #7 UCLA at Stanford |
| November 20 | Harvard at Yale Ohio State at Michigan #9 Texas Tech at #2 Arkansas #7 Missouri at Kansas |
| November 25 | Oklahoma at #3 Nebraska |
| November 27 | Army vs. Navy in Philadelphia |
| December 4 | Penn State at Maryland |